I'm a massive cheese fan, its not always been that way tho because the standard cheese we have on offer in supermarkets isn't exactly the greatest. A few years ago I was introduced to George and his small but amazingly overwhelming cheese shop in the West End, he was a chef for 25 years and its only natural that it has become the chef's choice for all the best cheeses you can get your hands on. He supplies all the top restaurants in Glasgow and a few special Michelin starred chefs throughout Scotland, his most famous client just so happens to be Scotland's Number one Chef Andrew Fairlie. If you go in with an open mind and ask to be blown away then I'm sure you'll not only walk out with a smile but a goodie bag full of probably the best cheese you'll ever taste.
I bought 6 different cheeses each with equally pleasing flavours, some of which were quite special.
Grand Jura Suisse.
Montgomery's.
Cosne de Port Aubry.
20-24 month old Dutch Gouda.
Ossau Iraty (AOC).
Tomme Crayeuse.
Grand Jura Suisse, a rich nutty gruyere style cheese from the Jura mountains situated between the Rhine & the Rhone on the French Swiss boarder. It has a lot more flavour than standard gruyere but in a good way, I preferred it straight up but my fine lady preferred it with a little smidgen of chutney. However, the left over will be going straight into a croque monsieur for my brunch this weekend.
Monthomery's Chedder is an unpasteurised cows milk from the good old Friesan heifer thats from Manor farm in Somerset. It's quite a hard cheddar, not very crumbly, more smooth than anything. It's got a good age on it so got good body and by heck did it make my mouth water. A must if you want to see what an original style cheddar tastes like.
Cosne de port Aubry, I'm not too sure if many of you have heard of this cheese before but its from a farm on the Loire that has roughly 400 goats producing this little beauty and that famous little cheese called Crottin de chavignol. The farmer had no moulds left to set the cheese in so he set it in his wife's bra, hence the cone shape of the cheese. Just a little fact that George hit out with to give us a laugh.
20-24 month old Dutch Gouda, a hard old gouda that reminds me much of salted caramelised white chocolate but not as creamy. It's still rather creamy with calcium crystals hidden in it that explode on your tongue giving a blast of flavour. I loved it! It's from southern Holland, made with unpasteurised cows milk and left to mature for almost 2 years.
Ossau Iraty (AOC), a seriously old school french ewes cheese from the Pyrénées. It's been kicking about for almost 600 years, has a powerful roasted hazelnut flavour that sweetens out and leaves a creamy texture in your mouth that makes it water for more, or a glass of red. It worked really well if the quince paste that George gave us. Definitely one of favourites over the past few years, if you've not tried it then your missing out.
Last by my all means not least, Tomme Crayeuse. This bad ass cheese literally blow me away, its layered with outstanding textures. It's a fairly modern cheese created by Max Schmidhauser in the Savoie region of France that boarders the Swiss & Italian Alps. Crayeuse means chalky in French which refers to the centre of the cheese. The centre is covered in a marshmallow/spongy buttery like coating thats leads to an earthy rind packed with earthy flavours dotted with yellow mould that makes your taste buds tingle. This yellow mould is what is commonly known as ammonia, it stinks like an essex girls hairdressers but it really is outstanding. Throw in a bottle of Pinot Noir and your in heaven.
If your a basic cheddar kind of person or a mad cheese lover then George has it all on offer, he's a specialist so expect special things. Plus it's a fun place to learn a few things with the odd sample thrown in.
